Early Head-Start launches children ahead

Children who receive early childhood education (between the ages of 0-3) are

Congressman Christopher Murphy, Connecticut Institute for Communities CEO James Maloney, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Sal Pasquarella, and Mayor Mark Boughton cut the ribbon 30% more likely to get into a good college,” said Congressman Chris Murphy, addressing a small crowd gathered at Mill Ridge Elementary School for the official grand opening of the Early Head-Start program on Monday. “People can’t go back to work without childcare... This is an excellent example of the stimulus bill working for parents and communities.”

The Early Head-Start program (EHS) will service 62 families with fulltime daycare between 7am and 3pm five days a week. Unlike many daycare programs, EHS is very focused on the individual, with a more fluid schedule that allows caretakers to meet a child’s needs on demand. All of the caretakers employed by EHS are required to have a CDA, or Child Development Creden- tial, to ensure the best quality care for the children enrolled in the program.

Dumilka Adames and her son Jeremiah Hurtabo are one of the 62 families who benefit from the Early Head-Start Program. Early Head-Start at Mill-Ridge Elementary has a full spectrum of healthcare and childcare professionals at its disposal, including a nutritionist, a mental health advisor, a family advocate and a disabilities manager. The program also boasts an 8-1 student to-teacher ratio, ensuring a level of individual attention that is almost impossible to find in most educational facilities, let alone those that specialize in early childhood development.

The program is run by Connecticut Institute for Communities, Inc., an organization that is unparalleled in the services they provide to the state’s communities. CIFC Inc. also runs a low-income housing project, a youth center and a historic preservation and re-use project, just to name a few. According to their mission statement:

“CIFC is a not-for-profit community development corporation that was founded from a commitment to help meet basic human needs in the field of health, education, human services and housing for disadvantaged children, families and adults in our service area.”

Connecticut Institute for Communities, Inc. is the only organization of its kind in Western Connecticut, one that coordinates all of the above mentioned services into one cohesive enterprise.

Children enrolled in the Head-Start program are typically a year behind their peers at age three when they enter the public school system. According to former Congressman Jim Maloney, “Early Head-Start addresses that issue directly.”

Dumilka Adames and her son Jeremiah Hurtabo were both present for the ribbon-cutting ceremony, and they’re both benefiting from the services offered by CIFC, Inc. Ms. Adames is working toward her high-school equivalence degree every day while Jeremiah is cared for right down the hall by EHS.

“It’s good because I can go to school and I know they’ll take good care of him (Jeremiah),” said Adames.

“It’s very expensive to educate children who are not ready to learn,” said Mayor Mark Boughton. “It’s cheaper to intervene now than in five years. There’s no arguing that the future of the United States is dependent on the quality of education our children receive.”

“Lives are changed by this program,” said Congressman Murphy. “It doesn’t matter if you’re working with us for a year, ten years, or twenty years, being a part of this is something you take with you for the rest of your life.”