FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 26, 2016
CONTACT:
Yasmine Evans, (202) 225-8699
Edwards Statement After County School Board Votes Not to Appeal Head Start Ruling
Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Donna F. Edwards released the following statement responding to the decision of the Prince George’s County School Board not to appeal the decision of the federal Department of Health and Human Services to terminate the county’s Head Start Grant.
“For more than 50 years, Head Start programs have given our most vulnerable children a true head start in life. This program is one of our nation’s best investments in early education, providing children with quality education in a nurturing, supportive environment and connecting them and their parents with health, nutrition, and social services. However, this partnership between federal funding and local coordination relies heavily on the oversight and accountability of our local school systems and its leaders on behalf of the children and families they serve.
“Recently, as not one, not two, but multiple stories of child neglect and abuse at some Prince George’s County Head Start centers have come to light, it is clear that such local oversight has failed children and their families in Prince George's County. The report compiled by the Department of Health and Human Service (HHS)’s Administration for Children and Families found that the County failed to report incidents of child abuse and neglect as required by law, and in one case a Family Services Worker actively discouraged a parent from filing a report with Child Protective Services. Incidents such as these do not exist in a vacuum. They are indicative of a systemic breakdown within the entire leadership chain that has placed children in danger and now jeopardizes the education prospects for 932 children. I urge any other families who have experienced such mistreatment to come forward and report their children's experiences so that a thorough, independent investigation can root out the bad actors, at every level of leadership. Anyone who ignored a problem, minimized abuse, or in any way interfered with the investigation of allegations of abuse and neglect of our children must go.
“Our federal partners at HHS are doing exactly what they are supposed to do and working to try to protect children who are being put at risk. Sadly, the end result is a threat to the existence of a program that provides incalculable benefit to 932 children in our county. The trust and confidence among families, the community, and the school system has been broken, and it will take a concerted effort at the highest level to restore that trust. Make no mistake, this is a systemic failure and must be addressed personally by the County Executive to ensure that there is funding to keep all 932 of these children and families in a fully-funded program for the entire 2016-2017 school year -- one that is safe, that supports them, and that gives them the quality education these 932 children need and deserve.”
###
