Press Releases

LOWELL, MA – Today, Congresswoman Lori Trahan (MA-03) toured Greater Lawrence Community Action Council’s (GLCAC) Methuen Head Start facility and met with its leadership to hear about the importance of continued federal investments in Head Start and child care programs like those in the American Rescue Plan.

“As a working mom, the American Rescue Plan’s historic investments in child care and head start facilities were incredibly important to me. We included these provisions so that as we work to defeat COVID-19, parents – especially our working moms – are able to reenter the workforce, support their families, and fuel our economic recovery,” Congresswoman Trahan said. “The success of Greater Lawrence Community Action Council’s Methuen Head Start site is key for so many families here in the city. I’m proud that as funding from the relief package continues to work its way into our community, they and the families they serve are eligible for financial assistance.”

“It’s gratifying that our federal and state delegation recognizes the importance of the availability of high-quality early education by strongly supporting it financially with infrastructure dollars and by acknowledging the hard work our staff does every day to create a positive environment for our children,” said Evelyn Friedman, Executive Director of GLCAC.

Trahan was joined on the tour by State Senator Diana DiZoglio (D-1st Essex), State Representative Linda Dean Campbell (D-15th Essex), Methuen Mayor Neil Perry, GLCAC Director of Early Division Learning Justine Donovan, and GLCAC Methuen Head Start Supervisors Brenda Adorno and Connie Quinn.

“Head Start plays a truly invaluable role in the community, providing a nurturing and stimulating environment that encourages learning and exploration,” said Senator DiZoglio. “This federal investment will greatly help the incredible Methuen Head Start team in its continued mission to provide support services that both strengthen families and foster life-long learning.”

“The GLCAC achieves amazing results in providing opportunity for families working so hard to achieve financial independence,” said Representative Campbell, who spearheaded the legislative effort in 2010 to bring the Head Start facility to Methuen. “As a mom, I am so grateful to Congresswoman Trahan for fighting for families as they try to return to work.  With federal support, the Massachusetts Legislature prioritizes support for childcare across the board and increases for salaries for childcare and early education workers.”

“It is important that the Federal, State, and Municipal elected officials work together to ensure that Methuen’s Head Start program has everything it needs to succeed during this unprecedented worldwide pandemic,” said Mayor Perry. “I thank Congresswomen Trahan for inviting me as well as inviting members of Methuen’s State Delegation so that we can collectively highlight all the great work Head Start does and the need to continue providing resources so that Head Start can expand and prosper.”

GLCAC serves 507 children across their Methuen and Lawrence Head Start facilities. The organization offers a wide array of services to the most vulnerable in Methuen and the Greater Lawrence area, including health and mental health services, professional development, transportation, meals, case management, family engagement, parent training, transition to kindergarten, and more. Each year, GLCAC serves 29,000 individuals with the goal that people will take advantage of opportunities to achieve self-sufficiency and lift themselves out of poverty.

While GLCAC has continued offering services to families throughout the pandemic, many child care facilities across the nation have been forced to shutter their doors permanently, creating even more challenges for parents, especially moms, looking to return to the workforce. That poses especially grave consequences to economic recovery efforts when 2 million women, including nearly a million mothers, were forced to leave the workforce because of COVID-19.

To rescue America’s child care system from the brink of collapse and help parents get back to work, Trahan voted in March to pass the American Rescue Plan, which allocated $39 billion for child care providers as the country reopens. Of that funding, the Commonwealth received $512 million in federal child care investments and another $13.6 million in Head Start funding. The relief package also provides financial relief directly to families struggling to cover tuition in the form of an expanded Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit. Families will receive a tax credit for as much as half of their spending on eligible child care for children under 13 years old, up to a total of $4,000 for one child or $8,000 for two or more.

The long overdue investments in the American Rescue Plan follow those made by the supplemental relief package, which Trahan voted to pass in December, that awarded GLCAC $149,000 to provide summer programs for children moving on to kindergarten in the fall.

Additionally, GLCAC was also the recipient of a recent $5,882,634 federal Head Start grant through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Head Start. Trahan has long been a supporter of Head Start and has advocated for increased funding each year since taking office in 2019. The program received $11.6 billion in funding for FY2020, an increase of $1.5 billion from the year before. Trahan continues to advocate for additional funding for this important program.

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