Washington, DC-  Congressman Raúl M. Grijalva congratulates the Cocopah Indian Tribe for receiving a $11,733 Head Start grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under the under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

The funding which will help improve staff compensation and training, upgrade Head Start centers and classrooms, increase hours of operation and enhance transportation services.

“This is great news for the Cocopah Indian Tribe,” said Grijalva. “Head Start is our country’s premiere early childhood education program and this grant will help these children and their families on the path to success.”

“The supplemental funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services helps to enhance and sustain the longevity of the Head Start program on the Reservation,” said Cocopah Indian Tribe spokesperson Cheryl Bradstreet. “The Tribe has run a center-based Head Start program for over 30 years and currently addresses the needs of 20 children.”

In April 2009, HHS announced that Head Start and Early Head Start programs will receive funding and be eligible to apply for grants worth $2.1 billion under the ARRA.

Grants totaling nearly $220 million will allow current Head Start grantees to serve 16,600 additional children and families. An additional $466 million, $110 million from Early Head Start ARRA funds and $356 million from Head Start ARRA and fiscal year 2009 appropriation funds, will be used to award all Head Start and Early Head Start grantees a nearly five percent cost-of-living increase and bolster training and technical assistance activities.

Head Start was established in 1965 to promote school readiness and provide a comprehensive array of health, nutritional and social services to eligible four and five year old preschoolers and their families. The program has enrolled more than 25 million children since its inception.