Suffer the Little Children

OPINION

Prince George's County's Head Start Program Loses Federal Funding Amid Reports of Child Abuse

By Maria Lopez-Bernstein

Trouble's brewing for our preschool children. Prince George's County's public school system has lost federal funding for the Head Start program to the tune of $6.3 million amid reports of "deficiencies" which amount to allegations of child abuse by teachers that went uncorrected.

The federal probe revealed documented "deficiencies" at various centers in the county.  At H. Winship Wheatley Early Childhood Center, a teacher reportedly ordered a three-year-old to mop up his own urine after he had an accident during nap time. At James Ryder Randall Elementary School Head Start Center, two children were reportedly disciplined for misbehavior at nap time by having them hold boxes with heavy objects over their heads. When one child cried and called out to the teacher, the child was ignored.  In another reported incident, an unsupervised five-year-old child left school grounds on her own and walked home, crying - the center did not know where she was for about 75 minutes.

Head Start programs were designed to provide comprehensive early childhood education, health and dental, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income children and their families. Nine hundred thirty-two children and their families in Prince George's County depend on Head Start programs.  Research shows these programs work at improving children's learning at school. They foster stable family relationships, enhance children's physical and emotional wellbeing and create an environment that helps develop strong cognitive skills. These programs give a "head start" to children who tend to fall through the cracks.

The director of Head Start at the Department of Health and Human Services detailed these deficiencies by the school system to correct teacher behavior and its failure to "timely correct one or more deficiencies," a spokesperson said.  The punishment?  Remove funding. Is that the best answer?

Sadly, Prince George's County is not alone in its Head Start child abuse allegations.  Earlier this year, in New York City, a federal audit also found cases of physical and emotional abuse, neglect, and 189 sites were deemed "unsafe" after many were riddled with rodents, roaches, mold and other unsafe conditions.  While many sites corrected the problems right away, this wasn't the first time that New York City was found to have these issues. In 2015, their $129 million federal funding was threatened when an audit found some of the very same issues reported again in 2016. Their funding was not cut after this year's findings. It seems the "punishment" isn't a standard.

Calling the report "completely unacceptable," Prince George's County CEO Kevin Maxwell said that the Head Start program will begin August 29 as planned, despite the loss of funding. That’s good news. But we would hope that in the future, the punishment better fit the crime. Cutting head start funding for nearly 1,000 families seems harsh as correction for the actions of a few.

PHOTO: pgcps.org