RICE LAKE, Wis. (WRN) — Sen. Tammy Baldwin toured the Rice Lake Head Start child care center last week.
She touted the program’s importance in so-called “child care deserts,” and said it provided essential services to families who otherwise could not afford early childhood care.
The program has been the target of cuts and closures by the Trump administration. Baldwin said she pressed Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about maintaining funding for the program.
“And he said, on the public record, that he would continue to recommend full funding for Head Start. So, I’ll believe it when I see it given all the chaotic fits and starts with the program,” Baldwin said.
Baldwin noted the closing of five of 10 regional offices in April negatively impacted local operations.
The federally funded Head Start program provides free early childhood education and health and nutrition services to children of low-income families. It serves approximately 600 students in the western and northwestern Wisconsin area.