Congressman raises bar on Ômismanaged' Cabarrus Head Start program
CONCORD – Rep. Richard Hudson is invested in education, especially with the recently dysfunctional Head Start program.
For the past two schools years, the local Head Start program, which is housed at Long School on Kerr Street NW in Concord, has been run by CDI, a Colorado-based vendor.
However, during that time, the congressman says the program has been mismanaged.
CDI has received more than $1 million per year in federal funding for running the Cabarrus County Head Start, and the children weren’t being served.
Hudson said CDI claimed there were more students than were actually enrolled; it didn’t perform hearing and developmental disability tests that are required by the federal government; and there were no individual education programs for the 10 percent of enrolled children who needed them.
Growing up, Hudson listened to stories about the at-risk children who needed help through the local Head Start program.
His mother is a retired Cabarrus County Head Start teacher.
That’s why he is devoted to making sure the Cabarrus County Head Start is back in reliable hands.
“I can remember the stories of the children,” Hudson said. “I remember sitting around the dinner table with my mother and sharing tears of some of these tough stories of kids, but also the incredible changes of these kids. I’m a firm believer in Head Start.”
Hudson organized a community meeting Thursday afternoon at All Saints Episcopal Church to discuss the issues at hand and announce that Save the Children has taken over the grant of the Cabarrus County Head Start program.
“We’ve had a real tragedy here in Cabarrus County over the last two years where our Head Start Program was not functioning properly, and the taxpayers are on the hook for about $1 million per year,” Hudson said. “We have 180 kids who should be getting these services but weren’t. A lot of these kids are at-risk.”
Director of Save the Children Head Start Program Khari Garvin disclosed some of his plans for the school which is currently enrolling students.
Also on hand was Dr. Deborah Bergeron, the National Director of the Head Start program.
The Head Start program currently provides services for three to five year olds, but Garvin introduced an early Head Services for children from birth to three years old. The Head Start program will also make a special commitment to children with special needs.
“Part of our philosophy is that Head Start programs are really meant to be part of the fabric of the community where they operate, so it is our intention to live up to that,” Garvin said. “We have no intention of disappointing anyone here.”
Hudson said CDI hasn’t been providing the services on its contract, which includes preparing children of low-income families for kindergarten.
He requested an investigation into CDI, which serves other Head Start schools across the country.
Head Start is a taxpayer funded school designed to help break the cycle of poverty, get preschool students ready for kindergarten and refer then to the public school if they have hearing, cognitive, vision and speech issues.
Hudson said most times, the school would be closed without reason, and officials wouldn’t go to homes, which was part of their job.
“This has been an over two-year struggle for us in this community,” Hudson said. “We need some answers on how this happened but also, this vendor is all over the country and they are taking tens of millions of tax dollars. I want them the account for that money. I’d be really surprised if this is the only place it’s happening.”
With Save the Children taking over as the vendor, Hudson is confident the Head Start program is headed in the right direction.
The congressman said he won’t stop fighting for the program.
“These are our most at-risk, vulnerable children,” Hudson said. “The power this program has to change lives, I’ve seen personally. The fact that we’ve gone two years without this is just heartbreaking and it makes me angry.”