Two months of Trump administration attacks on federal funding of social-service programs and services have left a local provider of help to low-income families fearing the worst.

HeadStart is a federally funded program that provides early-childhood education and support services to low-income families and their children to promote overall development and preparation to succeed in school.

Stacy Del Vicario, the agency’s vice president of child development, oversees HeadStart at Comprehensive Community Action Program. She says there is concern over potential cuts to the programs CCAP offers – programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as Food Stamps), which in turn would affect HeadStart.

“One of the ways that you can get into HeadStart without having to go through proving income and all of that is by having SNAP,” Del Vicario said. “So right now with the proposal of potentially cutting – I want to say I think it's around 25% – but with cuts to SNAP, that's thousands of people just in Rhode Island that would lose their SNAP, which means that they're not automatically eligible for our program now.”

Del Vicario said that if these cuts continue, people will have to begin choosing between putting food on the table versus paying the rent that month.

Del Vicario also noted that Project 2025, the political initiative to reshape the federal government in favor of right-wing policies, proposed getting rid of HeadStart altogether.

Asked about the impact if HeadStart went away, Del Vicario said this would affect the families in Cranston and statewide the most, families who need the support and whose children deserve high-quality education.

“…The cost of childcare is very high and not always possible for families to pay,” Del Vicario said. “The whole idea of HeadStart is that you get a head start going into public school for kindergarten … So, if we're not here, if there's no HeadStart, then children that might not have the access to preschool … they're going to go into kindergarten at a disadvantage.”

In Cranston, the Early HeadStart federally funded capacity is 20 slots for children up through 3 years old and pregnant mothers, Del Vicario says. There are 146 slots in the HeadStart program for children 3-5 years old. There’s also a state-funded Pre-K program for children 4 years old. In total, Del Vicario says, they have 250 children enrolled at three sites.

“Proven results show that a child's early years shape the foundation of their future,” said Chris Mansfield, CCAP’s CEO. “Cutting funding for Head Start programs would take away vital opportunities for children to learn, grow, and thrive. Supporting early education is an investment in a brighter future for all.”

Del Vicario said the program is more than just school. She says the biggest difference between HeadStart and regular childcare, including state-provided pre-K, are the comprehensive services provided, such as advocacy work with families, a nurse, nutritionist and mental-health consultant.

Robin Cunetta, a Cranston resident, says HeadStart has had a big impact on her life. Her son went through the HeadStart program many years ago, when he was about 3 or 4.

“The reason I chose the program was because I liked … how they addressed the whole child and not just necessarily focusing on academics, but the social-emotional piece was huge for me,” Cunetta said. “And the social interaction and the opportunities it provided him, including mealtimes, breakfast and lunch, I thought that would be good for him to be able to sit with his peers and socialize while he's having his meals.”

 Her son, who is now 30, made leaps and bounds when he went to HeadStart for the year, she says. She said it was a nice, welcoming environment where she got to come in and help wherever needed.

Today, Cunetta has been working at HeadStart for about 17 years. She began as a teaching assistant before moving up, and she recently started a new role as one of the education managers. 

To Cunetta, HeadStart is all about what’s best for the kids. She said it would be a shame and a tragedy to see such a high-quality program fall by wayside.

“Sometimes [people] think preschool is like babysitting,” Cunetta said. “It's not. We don't do babysitting here. We are actually educating, and they do learn through play, so some people don't necessarily understand that, but they're learning as they're playing and we're facilitating their learning.”

Expressing that same sentiment, Del Vicario says sudden uncertainty in federal funding for programs like HeadStart and SNAP is unfortunate, and that the families they provide education and services to deserve no less than everything they can give them.

“Someone's income level or where you live in the state, what neighborhood, should not define the quality of education that your child is able to receive,” Del Vicario said. “HeadStart is high-quality education and support services for families that really need it.”