Hispanics Worry About Head Start Proposal

FORT WORTH, Texas, (By Gustavo Reveles Acosta, Star-Telegram) July 15, 2004 - 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 Hispanic 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 Hispanic, 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 Hispanic 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.

"This is not a new issue for us."