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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Thursday, Oct. 20, 2005
Contact: Jane Norris
(202) 401-9215
ACF Awards $18M to MARC in Kansas City
For Head Start and Early Head
Start
WASHINGTON, D.C. --- The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today announced the beginning of a new Head Start project in Kansas City, Missouri. The project will be funded with a total of $18,481,443 to the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) and will serve Jackson, Clay and Platte counties. The award includes $16,557,867 for Head Start and $1,923,566 for Early Head Start programs.
“The Bush Administration wants every child to be fully prepared to enter school,” said HHS Assistant Secretary for Children and Families Wade F. Horn, Ph.D. “This award marks a new beginning for early learning in Missouri and begins a new chapter for Head Start in the region.”
The award follows a two year review of the former grantee, the KCMC Corporation, which ceased operation of the Head Start and Early Head Start programs in December 2004. Until then, KCMC had been funded for 2,454 Head Start children and 279 Early Head Start children and families living in Jackson, Clay and Platte counties.
The award to MARC will provide resources and services to low-income families to help close the education gap between children in Head Start and Early Head Start programs and their economically-advantaged peers. In his budget request for 2006, President Bush has requested $6.9 billion for Head Start programs nationwide.
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Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at www.hhs.gov/news