This is the face of an ECEAP graduate succeeding in kindergarten. Every morning 8,226 children attend preschool statewide thanks to the state’s Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP).
ECEAP gives them the educational, nutritional, health and social/emotional support they need to start kindergarten ready to succeed. The program also serves as a safety net for many families. The program, for example, helps parents locate emergency food and shelter services, find affordable housing, access health services, and find employment within their communities.
Due to Washington’s $9 billion budget deficit, funding for ECEAP is in jeopardy.
The House and Senate budgets will be released next week. We need you to contact Speaker Chopp and Majority Leader Brown today to urge them to protect funding for ECEAP. You can also call them via the legislative hotline at 1.800.562.6000.
Tell them that cuts to ECEAP would hurt Washington’s neediest kids. With more than 2,600 children on the ECEAP waiting list, the need is already too high. Also, ECEAP programs often serve families that Head Start programs can’t reach. This is especially true in some rural areas of the state where Head Start programs are not located.
Legislators are believers in early learning. However, they are gambling on the other Washington to provide federal funding for early learning programs. Cuts in ECEAP funding cannot be replaced with federal Head Start stimulus funds. The federal Head Start funding is temporary and the majority of the funding will not be used for expansion.
Please contact Speaker Chopp and Majority Leader Brown today and tell them to protect our children’s future by funding ECEAP.
