by Gustavo Reveles Acosta,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram, July 14, 2003
FORT WORTH - The already low number of Hispanic children served by the
federal Head Start program could diminish even more if the changes
proposed by the Bush administration come through, several Hispanic
advocate groups said.
Hispanic advocates are calling President Bush's call to overhaul Head
Start by creating eight state-operated programs "a blow" to providing
service to low-income Hispanic children.
"Ours are some of the most vulnerable kids. Head Start gives them an
opportunity to be introduced to English, books and ongoing health care,"
said Manda Lopez, executive director of the National Migrant and Seasonal
Head Start Association, which advocates for the children of migrant
farmworkers, who are mostly Hispanics.
Lopez, and groups such as the National Council of La Raza and the National
Head Start Association, argue that handing over the 38-year-old program to
the states will reduce funding for local grantees, diminish the quality of
services and erase most of the tough oversight that is enforced under the
federal program.
The reduced funding will further underserve the Hispanic population,
Hispanic groups contend.
The National Council of La Raza, which will consider the Head Start issue
during its national conference in Austin next week, believes that Hispanic
children in areas with traditionally strong Hispanic populations are
better served. But it is in communities with emerging populations of
Hispanics that the most help is needed.
"States like California and Texas do much better than states like South
Carolina that are barely seeing their Latino population grow," said Raul
Gonzalez, a senior education analyst with NCLR.
"Given recent statistics, the next generation of kids participating in
Head Start will be largely Latino, and we need to identify places where we
can better serve them."
According to figures from the National Association of Head Starts, 33
percent of the nearly 1 million children in Head Start are Hispanic. The
group's figures also show that only 23 percent of the eligible Hispanic
population is being served.
In Tarrant County, 45 percent of the 2,500 children in the program are
Hispanic.
The nonprofit group in charge of Head Start in the county, Child Care
Associates, doesn't have any figures on the number of eligible Hispanic
children in Tarrant County, but it estimates that about 11,500 eligible
children currently go unserved.
"We are a minority majority community, and issues affecting the Latino
population are definitely going to affect the children that we serve,"
said John A. Whitcamp, president of Child Care Associates.
"We are nowhere near the level that we need to be. And this bill is doing
nothing to change that."
Although Whitcamp said his centers are well-equipped and staffed to meet
the needs of Hispanics, advocates say that many centers shy away from
expanding their service to Spanish-speaking minorities for three main
reasons:
• The overall underfunding of the program.
• In areas where Hispanic populations have just recently emerged,
providers think it is too expensive to hire the bilingual instructors and
buy the culturally representative material that may be needed to serve
Hispanic children.
• The federal government's lack of enforcement to confirm that the racial
and ethnic makeup of Head Start participation matches that of the
community.
Even though Angelica Jones' 6-year-old son attended Head Start two years
ago and her younger daughter has been eligible to do so as well, she is
patiently waiting for a spot in the program.
"I think I got lucky the last time because I got in with no problems,"
said Jones, a stay-at-home mom who visited several north Fort Worth Head
Start centers for availability earlier this week.
"I know there's a long waiting list and there are several of us who go to
different [centers] to check for any spots every week."
NCLR, Gonzalez's group, hasn't officially opposed Bush's proposed changes.
And although he said the bill doesn't outline a specific plan to increase
Hispanic participation "by even one child," he welcomes some of the
recommendations.
"The bill is by no means a perfect bill, but does allow for better
assessment of communities that make sure the people in most need are the
ones being served," he said.
Gonzalez said that assessment could increase Hispanic participation in
areas with large or emerging Hispanic populations like Fort Worth.
Still, Whitcamp said that in the long run, the bill would hinder services
in Fort Worth because the state would use some of its monies to help other
state-funded children programs like CHIPS, that are struggling for a
budget.
Handing over Head Start control to the states would further diminish funds
by creating an additional filter of overhead costs, said Whitcamp, who
oversees 40 centers throughout the county.
"We have been making the argument about our kids being underserved for
years," Lopez said.
