Winter 2025 Insight Newsletter

With the start of a new year comes the uncertainty over the future of early childhood education and care and federal programs such as Head Start. Childcare accessibility is in the spotlight as the current administration rolls out policies that strongly align with the comprehensive policy blueprint called Project 2025, which proposes the elimination of Federal Head Start centers, advocates and policymakers must grapple with both criticism and evidence of the program's value.

Head Start, a program offered by CentroNía that provides preschool care for children from low-income families, has faced scrutiny, such as claims that it lacks positive long-term academic benefits. However, advocates point to the program’s critical role in preparing children for school as key viable skills developed during preschool set a foundation for future academic and social success. Without programs like Head Start, many children could begin school at a disadvantage.

Further compounding this issue is the broader crisis of childcare affordability. With millions of families paying astronomical childcare rates, Head Start is one of the few accessible and affordable options for many low-income families. For the 2023-2024 school year, the CentroNía Early Head Start program reported that 76% of parents enrolled had an income at or below 100% of the poverty line. "We are doing very important work for our children, families, and community. Work that our children and families depend on day to day," stated CentroNía Head Start Director, Solonnie Privett.

These financial pressures push an estimated 134,000 families into poverty each year. In this context, cutting programs like Head Start would exacerbate the challenges faced by families already struggling to afford childcare.

Advocates argue that the solution lies not in cutting programs but in expanding and improving them. Some key solutions to a path forward include:

• Investing in the childcare workforce: Providing living wages to attract and retain quality educators.
• Expanding access to full-day, year-round programming: Ensuring families have reliable and consistent care.
• Enhancing affordability: Legislation like the Child Care for Working Families Act (CCWFA) offers a roadmap to make childcare accessible for all.

Making sure early childhood education and care continues to be affordable, of high quality, and accessible starts with our community and advocates. Support CentroNía's early childhood education programs and support services for low-income families and keep children on the path towards success and school readiness.

Sincerely,

The CentroNía Development & Communications Team

The importance and need for programs such as Head Start and Early Head Start are critical. A report published by the Center for American Progress stated, "In the 2023–2024 program year, Head Start, Early Head Start, and Migrant and Seasonal Head Start programs served 764,424 children in all 50 states and the District of Columbia". Many children and families are dependent on affordable and accessible childcare programs.

Learning and understanding how important Head Start and Early Head Start programs can be for families, can only truly be done by hearing from parents themselves. Ana, a CentroNía parent who has experience in our Early Head Start/Head Start programs has expressed to us what it truly means for her and her children to have access to important educational resources. Read her testimony below:

My name is Ana and I have been a parent in the Early Head Start program, since 2020, throughout the pregnancy of 2 of my youngest children Brandon and Landon. CentroNía's home-visiting program and center-based program have truly changed my life. My final pregnancy was a rollercoaster, to say the least, and with the help of CentroNía, I have been able to receive services, resources, and support from a number of professionals and community partners, including Early Intervention, Child Find, and most recently, the Department of Disability Services.

I am grateful for the partnership I have established with CentroNía's Early Head Start program as they have accompanied me on my parenting journey. I am witness to the benefits and see the fruit of their labor daily. Brandon and Landon's health, safety, and continued development are fundamental to CentroNía's mission. From the bottom of my heart, thank you CentroNía for the opportunity of a lifetime.

To support CentroNía and the many low-income, working families we serve donate, volunteer, or become a CentroNía Sustainer!

CentroNía has been serving the community in the greater Washington area since 1986! As we come up to our 39th year, we are taking the time to reflect and acknowledge all the early learners who we have had the pleasure of getting to know, teach, and make sure are ready for school after our programs.

Here is a photo of the first class of children at CentroNía (formerly the Calvary Bilingual Multicultural Learning Center) with their teachers Ivonne and Iris!

National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) donates books to CentroNía!

For the holiday season, our friends from NAEYC stopped by our Columbia Road center to donate wonderful books for our programs. We are thankful to have been able to receive a range of donations from books for our early childhood education program to stories for our before and after-school program students. Thank you NAEYC for your generous donation and continuous support for our centers!

FRESHFARM and CentroNía bring fresh produce bags to families

CentroNía is proud to be able to provide many important resources to the families. With our partners at FRESHFARM, this quarter we were able to provide free fresh produce bags to families in need. We believe healthy habits are necessary for academic and social success and with resources such as food bags, we are able to guarantee our families have access to the tools needed to achieve this goal.

CentroNía hosted its first Community Pillar's Lunch where leaders of our community were invited to enjoy a meal and conversation on how to continue to help reinforce affordable, high-quality childcare and the need for affordable housing, a main concern for the families we serve. CentroNía friends Theresa, Gabriel, and Sara joined our Development Team and President & CEO, Myrna Peralta, for a collaborative dialogue on how childcare and affordable housing align in our efforts to create stronger support systems for families in our community.

To read more about our first Community Pillars Lunch, visit our blog!

Thanksgiving Food Drive

This year's Thanksgiving Food Drive CentroNía was happy to be able to distribute turkeys and food bags filled with items such as oil, flour, cereal, and mashed potatoes. We would like to give a big heartfelt thank you to St. Augustine Catholic Church, Poor Robert's Mission, and CentroNía board members Tim Foley and Danielle Fuentes-Johnson for their generous donations that helped us ensure some families had a nice meal for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Thanksgiving Food Baskets

CentroNía also provided Thanksgiving food baskets to more CentroNía families at our Takoma Park and Upshur locations. We would like to give thanks to all our CentroNía families, our friends at Manos Unidas, and our community churches for also ensuring that our families had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday to celebrate with their loved ones.

Enrollment for CentroNía Stevens ELC is Open!

Enrollment for CentroNía at Stevens Early Learning Center is now open for infants & toddlers!

If you have children or know someone with children aged 0-3 years old for our early childhood education program at our Stevens ELC location, visit our enrollment page to fill out our waitlist application!

Cornelia T. Bailey Foundation

FRESHFARM

George Washington University

Greater DC Diaper Bank

Manos Unidas

NAEYC

Operation Warm

Poor Robert's Mission

Savills Studley

St. Augustine Catholic Church