News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
The UCHRA wants to expand its head-start program to the entire Upper Cumberland.
Executive Director Mark Farley said early head-start programs are a growing need for many communities in the region.
“A lot of the school systems have taken on the Pre-K programs. When a lot of the school systems started taking on Pre-K, as they did in Van Buren County, that took some of the population we were serving out of the traditional head-start program, which serves three- and four-year-olds,” Farly said. “Looking at the needs across our region, it’s clear that daycare services that start from birth is one of the greatest needs in our region.”
Farley announced at the UCHRA Executive Board meeting Wednesday the agency would seek grant funding to help expand its current offering in Van Buren County.
Farley said expanding head-start offerings would provide beneficial educational opportunities to young children in the region.
“If we were able to compliment our head-start program with an early head-start program, we think that we’ll be able to serve our citizens and provide a streamline service from the time they’re six weeks old until they’re ready to start school,” Farley said.
The agency will seek nearly $1 million in grant funding to build a new facility in Van Buren County to accommodate the service.
Farley said if the program were to be successful, the agency would consider creating a second-shift daycare depending on the need in the community.
“It’d be a huge benefit. Reliable daycare is an issue in all 14 counties of the Upper Cumberland,” Farley said. “We hear stories all the time where an employee has to quit their job, they have two kids, and the cost of daycare is prohibitive, they can’t even afford to work. The cost of daycare is as much as what they’re making at their job.”
Fentress County Executive Jimmy Johnson said expanding head-start and daycare offerings through the UCHRA would greatly benefit the region as a whole.
“If it passes and the UCHRA does get to do that, it’ll be a good operational thing especially for parents who work second-shift,” Johnson said. “There will be some place that they know their children will be and taken care of. I believe that the second-shift would be a great idea for counties with a lot of second-shift workers.”
The UCHRA will seek nearly $1 million in grant funding to build a new early head-start facility in Van Buren County. The grant application will be submitted this November with the agency possibly hearing back by January 2020. Farley said if approved and successful, the agency could expand services to distressed areas of the region.
